Four month stats!

I took William to the pediatrician today and he continues to maintain his growth curve!

length - 26.5 inches (90th percentile)

weight - 18.4 pounds (above the 95th percentile)

head circumference - 42cm (50th percentile)

He was such a champ with his vaccinations and the doctor was very pleased with his development. He's doing many things that 6 month old babies are doing, which is a good thing because he's bigger than most 6 month olds!

FOUR months old!

William is FOUR months old! Boy has he changed!

I'm back!

What a month it has been! Let's just say blogging has not been a priority.

Here it is in a nutshell:

• Hannah started out the month with the hands-down nastiest case of diarrhea I've ever seen in my entire life. It last ten L-O-N-G days.
• Mark spent two weeks away from home for work and is now a certified firearms instructor! During those two weeks I came to realize just how much my husband helps me with the kids. I honestly don't know how single working moms of more than one kid get through the day!
• Because of the above, I received a great lesson in patience :)
• Hannah went on two "vacations." One trip to the lake to spend time with Nana and Granddaddy and a camping trip with Grammy, Pappy, and Brice.
• This month Hannah must have come to realize that her little brother is here to stay for good and she will have to share our attention from here on out. Give me the terrible twos any day...the threes are BY FAR the most challenging so far. Ummm...how much longer until 4/4/11?!?!

But on a serious note, my heart, thoughts, and prayers have been with the Trainer and Upham families. My Aunt Gail and my Granddaddy were called to their heavenly home to begin their eternal life. Neither is suffering any more and we have to find peace and comfort in that. They both fought long battles with cancer but are now whole and healthy once again. I'm sure both of them are catching up with those that have gone before them. We will meet again one day!

In case you thought I was exaggerating...

...about how big William is, take a look at this picture! This was taken on his 3 month birthday. When seeing him next to Hannah you really get an idea of his enormity :)

And I think I need to work on Hannah's "holding" skills...although it's got to be hard to hold something that is more than half your weight!

Backseat Driver!!

Guess who the backseat driver is in our house? HANNAH

The other day I picked the kids up from daycare and on the way home I went through a yellow light. Hannah said, "Mommy, don't do that again!" in a very concerned voice. "That light is not green. DON'T GO!" She then proceeded to explain to me that I can only "go" when the light is green. I had no idea that she actually understood traffic signals. She is such a little rule-follower...I have no idea where she gets that from :)

I'm a lion, hear me ROAR!

Are you ready for this...check out our cat Della with her new "lion cut!" Okay, so she doesn't really look like a lion (because she's a short-haired cat), but I think that she thinks she looks pretty fierce!

I feel bad that I have been calling her fat for all these years. She's really not as big as I thought she was under all the fur. I actually think she looks kinda cute! It took Mark a few hours to trim her and surprisingly, she loved it! I guess it felt like a kitty massage. She seems to be quite comfortable with her new 'do.

The best part about this:

LESS HAIR AROUND THE HOUSE = LESS CLEANING FOR ME!!!

(and that's exactly what this working mom needs these days!)

Back to the real world

Today marks the end of my 12 week maternity leave. What an incredible 12 weeks it has been. I never would have dreamed that I could love another baby as much as I love Hannah. But it's true...your heart does grow when you bring another child into the world. And William has me wrapped around his finger! I'm so thankful that I have had this time to bond with my little boy. I will never forget the time we spent together...often times just looking at each other and "talking", or taking naps together, or playing on the floor together and my silly attempts to make him smile. So many wonderful memories! It just tears my heart apart that I won't be able to do those things with him all day, every day. I'll be living for the weekends. I just don't want to miss anything. I remember feeling the exact same way with Hannah when I went back to work. Those first couple months were very hard for me. Being a working mom is tough and I often find myself questioning whether I've made the right decision. I pray that my children won't hold that against me when they are older.

I have so much more I want to say but I just can't type anymore...the tears are flowing again. I can't wait until 4pm tomorrow when I can get in my car and drive home to my beautiful children.

Best Zucchini Bread Recipe EVER!!

Thanks to my mother-in-law for sharing her recipe for zucchini bread. Hopefully it's not a secret recipe! I could eat this stuff for every meal of the day! I mean, look at these ingredients...how could you go wrong :)

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 T baking soda

2 cups grated zucchini

3 eggs beaten

1 cup oil

1/2 T salt

1 T cinnamon

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Makes two loaves. {Hint: use an electric mixer. I learned this the hard way, but got a great arm workout trying to "stir" the dough! Eventually, I gave up and just mashed it all together with my (clean) hands}